Urbanism
Accomplished studies
Tirana's Diary
Plans for TiranaShort Description of the Urban Plans of Tirana During Years
The Central Technical Construction Archive (AQTN) owns a very rich documentation in the field of city planning, for all Albanian cities and in particular for Tirana.
This short city planning description of Tirana will base totally on the documents of AQTN, starting from the first document that belongs to 1917 and up to the regulatory plan of 1990.
This urban description aims to give some historical city planning knowledge for Tirana, some aspects of its urban development, its territorial extention and its growth as an inhabitation, administrative and industrial center, etc.
In this study we will pass some periods of administration of the Albanian state as:
- The period of Austro-Hungarian invasion, 1914-1925;
- The period of king Zog, 1925-1939;
- The period of Italian invasion 1939-1944;
- The period after the liberation, 1945-1990.
In the Austro-Hungarian period of invasion there is the first designed document, which is a plan of the city of Tirana, in the scale 1:5000 (Topographic Situation) year 1917.
In this plan the city occupies a superficies of 305 hectares, where the inhabitation area occupies 98.2 % of the city’s superficies.
In this period the population is 15 000 inhabitants and the population density is almost 50 inhabitants/ hectares. Historically the city spreads around the cellule of Bazaar.
The inhabitation area extends mainly in the north and east.
In 1918 there is the existing state of the roads of Tirana, a map in the scale of 1: 5 000.
One of the important factors that gave a relatively fast burst to this inhabitated center were the carvanes that came from different ends of the country and which played a particular role in the internal structure of the city by creating the first skeleton of the road system.
The inhabitation and economic area were linked to a range of roads and back streets that composed the most characteristics phenomenon of the town. From this range of roads and backstreets in evidence are interregional streets like that of Durrësi, Shkodra, Dibra, Elbasan etc. that crossed in the center (bazaar) Topographic situation of 1921. The city grows with 15%, thus 350 hectares.
The street’s system condition is the same.
The city tents to spread in the direction NE-SW.
The first regulatory plan is that of 1923, realized by the Austrians.
The new road network tents to be quadrate, in general, but mostly takes into regard in particular the direction of the radial streets and of some main backstreets.
This regulatory plan is not an authentic plan, but requires leading the distorted streets and backstreets of the city.
The center of the town is again the bazaar.
The second regulatory plan is that of 1926, where for the first time it is outlined the center of the city and the N-S axis of the boulevard.
The administrative center would be constructed in E-W of the bazaar, Lana will be systemized with segment A and B, in the figure, while “ Sulejman Pasha” square will be realized as a circle with radial roads that come out of it.
The regulatory plan of 1926 is more a review of the regulatory plan of 1923 in direction of road system.
The center of Tirana in 1926, as seen even in the topographic situation of this year was system less and the southern and western of the city was almost free.
In this area are contoured the boulevard and the administrative buildings.
The state of king Zog gave a great importance to the city development according to urban regulatory plans.
In this period there are some variants of the regulatory plans as well as the application of a part of them.
The first regulatory plan of the period of king Zog is that of 1928.
In this regulatory plan in the scale 1:5 000, it is evident the quadrate system of the street network, especially in the area of Tirana e Re.
Here it is contoured exactly the axis of the boulevard with the administrative center, from the bazaar to the edge of the hills in the south, at the Royal Palace, in this regulatory plan it is made the systematization of Lana and in parallel with owners’ names in Tirana e Re (New Tirana).
The second regulatory plan of king Zog is that of 1929, in the scale 1: 5 000. Here it is contoured the whole N-S axis of the boulevard, from the stadium in the north to south at the Royal Palace.
In this map are clearly defined the borders of the city, that inscribe a superficies of 4,5 km and are represented with the green line, while the red line shows the area of the center of the city, the boulevard and the area nearby, that would subdue to a contemporary enlightening (in 1930 starts the construction of the boulevard).
Because of the spasmodic economic development and as an administrative center ordered by King Zog are defined the new borders of the city.
The new border made up a circle with a center in “Sulejman Pasha“ square and with a ray of 2.2 km, thus this border inscribes a superficies of 12 km.
As from the registration of the population made in 1930, the population was 30 000 inhabitants, the density= 2 500 inhabitants per km.
The widening of borders would be done in order to give opportunities for growth in the green inhabitation area in the eastern part and the development of industry in the western area.
This circle passes into eight polygonal points.
This variant of defining the borders was not realized.
The definitive borders of the city were defined in 1931 according to a broken line that passed eight polygonal points and inscribed a superficies of 6 km.
The regulatory plan of 1934 details only Tirana e Re and supports completely on the regulatory plan of 1928 and gives exactly the parcels of every quarter with numbers and owners’ names.
The regulatory plan of Tirana e Re of 1940 has great changes from that of 1934, because the area of the contemporary circles is destroyed and there passes a part of the city’s ring.
The plan of 1938 shows the new system of Lana, perpendicular with the boulevard for the most part of its length and extention of street network and parcels beyond “Elbasani” Street.
The more complete and studied regulatory plan was that of 1942.
The works for this regulatory plan started in 1939 and finished in 1941.
This regulatory plan was published in the official newspaper in 1942.
The project idea was realized in 1940 from the architect Gherardo Bosio.
This regulatory plan is divided in some stages:
- Stage I. The existing condition
In 1937 Tirana occupied 500 hectares and had a population of almost 35 000 inhabitants.
The inhabitation area lies mainly in North and East. The street network: Boulevard "Vitorio Emanuele" is completely constructed, while "Viale del Impero” is under construction, “Durrësi” street and “Kavaja” street are expanded.
Another main line is “Rexhina Elena” street, from which some radials such as “Dibra”, "Hoxha Tahsim" etc, come out.
With this street network, the progress of the city in perspective was impossible, there had to be constructed transversal streets.
Only "General Pariani", (“Asim Vokshi”) was a link up to “Durrësi “ street with "Viktor Emanuele"street.
- Second stage. The future development of the city.
Tirana, as a city at large and development and the flux of many administrators and Italian citizens made this regulatory plan the most economic, not for short development periods, but for 5-100 year periods.
In 1937 Tirana had 35 000 inhabitants, when the work for the compilation of the regulatory plan started, while in 1939 it became 40 000 inhabitants and by the end of the regulatory plan it numbered 75 000 inhabitants and the city extention expanded from 500 to 800 hectares.
Thus, the regulatory plan had to foresee the city’s development for a 60-years period, where the population could arrive at 130 000 inhabitants and the city’s superficies 1100 hectares, thus d= 130 inhabitants/hectares, an average figure for a city with an extensive character.
The master plan studies an area lied in 2 800 hectares, here including the military areas, the airport, the linking area, the industrial area that together make 1 700 hectares.
What is important in the master plan is the border of Tirana between the municipality and surrounding communes.
This border has a superficies of 7 300 hectares.
The green areas would be 132 hectares, sportive areas 33 hectares and the ark behind the university 22 hectares.
The inhabitation area would be 660 hectares. The city would develop in north, beyond Tirana’s river, thus it would create a satellite area that would connect the town with street-bridges. This township would have many green- CITTA GIARDINO (green spaces).
The industrial area would be North- West and South–East; in between of them a company town would be constructed.
The railway in the southwest of the town would link up Tirana with Durrës and with the east of Albania; a new branch of it would go to the industrial area.
The hospital area and the cemetery would be in the eastern part of the city, while in North west near the industrial area would be the area of exhibitions of fairs.
The airport would be in the west of the town.
- Stage III. Street System – Radial - ring.
In the city, the street system is quadrate, Lana’s system as a west-east arteries, the boulevard ”Viale del Impero” is the North South axis of the city, the big ring of the city passes into the two North South ends of the boulevard, the middle ring and the small ring as well as some partial rings.
Another main line is the arteries parallel to the western part of the big ring that discharge into the train station.
This general street plan is divided into 9 parts to see closely where do the new streets pass, for the expropriations etc.
All the constructions underlined with black in the map will remain, because they respect the regulatory plan.
- Stage IV. City’s Urban Conditions.
In this part of the regulatory plan are given details for the manner of construction of the quarter, the street and pavement width, the manner of scattering of the buildings, their height and that of every floor, greenery and street enlightening etc.
With “A” it is signed the intensive area, with “B” it is signed the semi-intensive area, with “C” the extensive area, with “M” the markets and with “ S” the schools.
Here are given all the cuts of all the main streets as well as the types of streets, as for example “a”, “bb”, “cc” etc.
Along the main streets in general are defined to be constructed 4-5 floor buildings, elongated along the quarter or with interruptions, as well as the knots of main crossroads where there are also created squares.
- Stage V. Zoning.
Tirana’s city in this regulatory plan will have the characteristics of a greened city, with low buildings and the realization of this regulatory plan of the intensive area with high buildings has been difficult.
The intensive area includes the boulevard with the government buildings, “Durrësi”, “Kavaja”, “28 Nëntori” streets and areas nearby them with high buildings of 4-5 floors in which there will be offices, shops and banks at citizen’s service.
Zoning will serve to adjust the borders of the density of inhabitation in relation to the land ownership, aesthetical and practical requirements of these buildings.
In the zoning map, the intensive area occupies 110 hectares and has a population of 33 000 inhabitants, d= 300 inhabitants/hectares, the semi intensive area occupies 280 hectares and has a population of 56 000 inhabitants, d= 200 inhabitants/ hectares and the extensive area occupies 550 hectares and has a population of 44 000 inhabitants and d= 80 inhabitants/ hectares.
This area lies in the south and east of the city.
- Stage VI. Traffic
In the traffic scheme it is included:
- The big Ring; that cuts all radial streets and has a length of 8.11 km, this ring is sectioned in two ways and with a fatal width of 33 m in the North East and North West area, while in the South East and South West the area is 42 m with one way and green in both sides.
The track of this ring is almost equal with today’s ring.
- Penetration in the city through the radial streets.
- The second ring that crossed “General Pariani “ street.
- N-E axis of the boulevard.
- “Musolini “ street and Lana E-W.
- “Rexhina Elena “ street that is almost parallel to the boulevard and continues in “Elbasani” street, in the union point with which it is created a park.
As “Durrësi” and “Kavaja” street meet in the square, in the same point it was made the shift of “Durrësi“ street in the North of the building of the Municipality as a continuance of “Dibra “street.
- Stage VIII. The city’s center.
“Skënderbej” square has undergone great change in years.
In 1936 the square was projected as a longitudinal square with the two circle arms and four buildings in its northern part, when only one of them was realized.
In 1940 the square is narrowed by a garden created in the middle.
In the center of the city were foreseen the theatre, post, national bank, offices, the municipality etc.
- Stage IX
In this regulatory plan there are given the urban conditions of the buildings of the grand boulevard, the street‘s cuts that come out of “Skënderbeu” square, the cemeteries plan etc.
The regulatory plan of 1957.
This regulatory plan was compiled basing on the existing state of the street as well as the augmentation of its improvement.
In 1957 there were 14.1 km streets.
This plan gave to the city an extention to the nowadays ring.
This plan foreseed the realization of 73.5 km of streets, the street system is radial –ring with two rings, an external and an internal one.
The realization of the regulatory plan of 1957.
The external ring of 7.5 km finished in 1965, there were constructed the two roads of Lana and there were improved the main streets such as that of “Kavaja, Durrësi, Miqësia” etc.
The city’s extention in the East-West direction dictated the elongation of radial streets.
A part of the external ring which was studied with under ways, from “Labinoti “ street up to the grand boulevard was not realized, while the track from the last lira of Lana up to “Labinoti “ street was postponed its construction to another period.
The regulatory plan of 1990.
In 1985 Tirana lied in 1 540 hectares. The main arteries remain those of the regulatory plan of 1957.
With the construction of the National Historical Museum important changes were made in “ Skënderbeu” square, “Ded Gjon Luli” behind it, together with “Barrikadave“ street already widened with 21 m width and 6-10 m pavements, part of the small ring of the city around the center.
In the center the street density is = 5 up to 5.3 km / km2, greater than the norm which is 2.5-4 km/km 2.
In the suburb the density = 1.7-1.8 km/km2, because of the lesser non-application of the regulatory plan than the norm.
The regulatory plan of 1990 aims to use the existing street system and adapt it to the growing needs of the city at perspective.
The schemes that present the solutions proposed are a logical and technical continuity of this existing network.
In 1957 the city was thought to expand in the borders of today’s ring, while in 1990 the foreseen superficies was surpassed 3 times, but the street network remained behind, only the radial roads were elongated.
The scheme of the street system.
The street system is radial ring.
- As a base axle it has been considered the elongation in the north of the boulevard “ Dëshmorët e Kombit”, which in a turn in the West meets Fushkruja Street, one wing links to the highway, while the other ends at Rinas.
This will be the main entrance in the city; the movement speed will be 100-km/ hour. The crossroad with the main streets will be realized with underpass or overpass.
- Elongation of radial streets.
- New Radial Street to go at the Faculty of Constructions.
- New radial street ”Don Bosko”.
- Elongation of “5 Maji” street.
- The new external ring.
- Lana’s elongation in the west and east, up to Shkoza with two roads, up to the auto tractors only one street.
- The semi ring, between the new ring and that existing one.
The big ring is foreseen to have 6 moving lines, while the other rings 4 moving lines.
The crossroads of the rings with the railway will be realized with over and under passes, while the streets with less speed will have a circle motion.
The existence state of Tirana.
Tirana surpassed 3 000 hectares, meanwhile that the green superficies and the streets remained the same.
